In April, consumer prices rose 7.4 percent year-on-year, the fastest since the early 1980s. Those affected vent their anger online.
The inflation rate is climbing to ever new heights across Germany. According to the first May data from the Federal Statistical Office, experts even expect the increase to accelerate to 7.6 percent. This should primarily affect food and energy costs – for people who had little money to live on even before the current rise in prices, it is now particularly difficult to master everyday life with dignity.
Under the hashtags #Armut and #IchBinArmutsaffected, some of them are currently describing – mostly anonymously – on Twitter what it means for them to be able to buy even fewer products for what is already tight money, how they feel about it and what savings and cuts they are making now also have to put up with in order to make ends meet.
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Highest inflation rate in decades: “Energy and food prices are scary”
“Hi, I’m Anni, 39, and I’m fed up! I live on HartzIV and it’s just not enough! No, I can’t lower any other costs. No, I can’t do without the fuel-efficient car. No, I give no money ‘uselessly’ from. I’m just trying to feed ourselves reasonably healthy and balanced and to keep my child the appearance of normality. #I’m poverty affected because I’m ill. And I’ll do everything to counteract it,” said the first Contribution to the hashtag #I am poverty affected from May 17th of this year. It comes from the Twitter user AikO.
Others promptly agreed. Userin Sanylogie writes: “Not only that it’s not enough in front and behind. No, to thank you for not having to starve completely, you also have to justify yourself, let yourself be examined and woe to Mom invites you to eat. If the office finds out, money is cut. If mom can invite once, then she can probably do it every month. Such a degrading, contemptible and humiliating system. Help yes, but at what price?” She obviously refers to the control processes for Hartz IV recipients and criticizes the way the job center deals with the needy.
The Twitter user Kein_Lebkuchen summarizes the feelings that such an approach can trigger: “Thank you for your words and this tweet. Unfortunately, one often feels spat out by society and unwelcome when one cannot work at the moment, be it studying, illness, Child or whatever. These people are additionally burdened with an inhumane ALG-2.”
Affected people vent on Twitter
Twitter user MariaWa85740570 adds: “The daily anxiety when going to the mailbox, the sleepless nights, the panic in front of the checkout at the discount store… Poverty means constant stress, poverty makes you ill.” We read what this can mean in concrete terms from user @Linda48356091: “Energy and food prices are scary. Everything is calculated carefully for me and is going according to plan. I borrowed a power meter. Biggest consumers: heating or cooling with electricity. 3 minutes of hot water on the day. Stove max. half hour per day.”
Twitter user @AdelheidSchwar2 seems to capture the emotional state of most of those affected with the last sentence of her tweet: “Only order something if I can give the bringer at least 10% of the value, usually it’s more. It comes at most once a quarter I am also #I am poverty affected, but I also want to feel life.”
Finally, user MissTictactic draws attention to another serious aspect of the poverty debate: “#I am poor also means no medication for a few days [Medikamente; Anm. der Redaktion] to be able to take, because there is a risk of getting others soon and 2x co-payment is not possible. (Specifically, it’s about antidepressants and maybe I’m just realizing where all the symptoms have been coming from for the past three days.)”
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Source: Stern
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
